Assuming you are not navigating away from the page, I would expect the same exact results from window.open() in both situations.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/DOM/window.open

Is it possible to post a test case demonstrating the problem?

Also, I don't know why you are posting with Firefox 11, but make sure you test with Firefox 19.0.2 in case this is a solved bug.

Hi jscher20000, the case used in our project is complex, so I made a test, there is no way to attach the attachment here, so I have to pasted the code in the end

I used requirejs to require a js file, and in the callback function I called function window.open(url,'_blank')

I tested them in different browsers, In firefox, click the button 'indirectly' it will open this window in a new tab.

in Chrome, click button "indirectly", it will open a new window instead of a new tab. but if click button "directly" it will open a new tab.

I just don't understand when browser will open a new window, and when opens new tab.

the handler of the "indirectly" and "directly" buttons is written as follows:

clickIndirectly=function(){
   require(['./js/testwindowopen/in.js'],function(){
   window.open('http://google.com','_blank');
  })
}

clickDirectly = function(){
   window.open('http://google.com','_blank');
}

What does require() do with the callback function that is different from straight JavaScript?

require is a javascript framework, in the function:

clickIndirectly=function(){

  require(['./js/testwindowopen/in.js'],function(){
        window.open('http://google.com','_blank');
 })

}

when the function is called, browser will get a javascript file from server via url "./js/testwindowopen/in.js" after the js is loaded ,the call back function :

     function(){
            window.open('http://google.com','_blank');
     }

will be called.

I see that part, but requireJS appears to be executing the function in a different way. Does your JS library replace the standard window.open function? Is there a change in context such as window referring to an iframe?

Hi jscher20000,

I checked the source code of requireJS and our own code, there is no replacement of the standard window.open function, and there is no change of context by our code such as using iframe. the only difference is the place where window.open is called.

Is there any security consideration of the browser when open a link by JS? Or the context is different between the two situations?

What if you change it to something like this:

clickIndirectly=function(){
  require(['./js/testwindowopen/in.js'],function(){
    clickDirectly;
  })
}

it still opens the link in new window.

it still opens the link in new window.

Yes, that is expected because the target of window.open() is _blank. It still has different toolbars?

Hi jscher20000,

What I mean is that it opens the new page in new window, the window has no tool bar. What I expect is open the window in a new browser tab.

Sorry, but I think you need someone who understands the requirejs library to explain why window.open() works differently when called from the callback.

Thanks jscher20000,

this problem has no relationship with require js, I used require js just as a example,

before we involve requirejs in our project, we submit data to server by AJAX, and in the callback function, we use window.open, the browser will open new window too.

Okay, that is simpler to understand. Your script submits data to a server and does something with the response and then uses window.open(). What result do you get in my test page?

http://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/xhr_win_open.php

Hi jscher20000,

Open your test page in firefox, both links opens the new page in new browser tabs, it seems firefox has fixed this problem, I tested in our own application, it also acts as we expected.

But in chrome, it still opens new window, it seems to be a bug of chrome, I will report this bug to them.

Thank you for your reply and your time for supporting this issue.

Really, after all that, it's a Chrome problem?!

It appears you're out of luck in Chrome unless something has changed recently:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11999837/force-window-open-to-create-new-tab-in-chrome

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9864747/new-window-doesnt-open-as-tab-in-chrome

Thanks jscher20000,

Is this problem fixed in firefox recently? I remember that I met it recently, but I can not reproduce it now.

When the thread started, were you really running Firefox 11? Perhaps it changed between Firefox 11 (March 2012) and Firefox 19 (March 2013). You could install an old version if you were really curious. To avoid disturbing your main installation, you can use the unofficial "Portable" edition for testing. http://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./